Naruto's Fatal frame XI
by Amoridere
Summary: The Curse must break, whether or not it means sacrifices must be made
1. Alone

Naruto's fatal frame XI: Alone

As I ventured, I feared that my journey would end incompleted. I can't turn back now. I look back on past memories. May fate change its mind and end it all. My parents are searching for me and I know I can't escape my father's sense of smell without retarding it and I don't have onions with me at the moment. It was -my guess-around 3:00 in the morning. I heard my name being called and I turned to see an angry Miyu (she's dead but can pass through this world and the next) run towards me and all goes black. While unconscious, I hear her voice saying: "_Tokui-san is gone and your only aid, you've decided to leave behind with our parents but you can never turn back. You should have thought about the choice you made and now you'll pay for what you did and long to be with them, something will befall one of the people we care about, farewell_."

I woke up in a haze and that was all I could remember her saying and it was past sunrise. I had passed out for sometime and found myself near a stream. I had to be shrewd and try to avoid death, if I possibly could. I have no experience in running away and I have never done it before, except for a few hours or so but this was different. This took a matter of skills and endurance and I may not fare well, due to minor/major handicap that I had gotten about 4 months ago. I walk with a limp that might be permanent and may be beyond repair, since I fell from 3 branches high and got a surgery to repair it but it the surgeons were naïve and it went wrong so now I limp everywhere I go and it takes awhile to get there so escaping will be a challenge. I have to try to evade danger but fate I can't evade but I can try to change it. I probably will be found lying in the brush someplace, dead and alone. The truth was going be a sad reality if it ever becomes real. Fate may change its mind after awhile. Fate has given me separate chance and I'm not without purpose. I traveled on alone. My will was strong but my mind was weak. I stopped and caught a troubling scent. It was the scent of something sinister and it came from someone sinister. The scent was fresh and that meant that the enemy was still in the area and not very far. The enemy was apart of family and she wasn't alone. Erasing my scent, I got far enough away to avoid another encounter with 'Her-who-shall-never-be named' (see _The forbidden past and a dark ritual_). She had posed a serious threat and without my mother's protection, I'm defenseless. I hear a deep troubling sound. I figure out what it is. As I continue, I found refuge under in a deep hole under the willow root. I pray for my life. The noise gets louder. It draws near. Will this day be my last?

To be continued…

**It's time for someone to die... **


	2. Mother's Instinct

Naruto's fatal frame XII: Mother's instinct

I sit hiding in that very deep hole (it was once a burrow of some sort). My heart was racing. I had erased my scent so they can't find me. I was silent. She holds something sinister as Mother has spoke of. When Miyu was still around, we had a deadly encounter. I fled, leaving Miyu behind. She escaped sometime but she wasn't too thrilled at being reunited and she said I 'abandoned' her by leaving her behind to fend for herself. She also came back with a butterfly-shaped scar just above her left eye that glowed red (it was bleeding and the blood was reflecting light). If we could do it all over again, we would and I'd say I'm sorry but it's too late. Will my fate be same? I heard another disturbing sound and it sounded like a dominance fight and it seemed that whoever was fighting whoever obviously couldn't (and obviously wouldn't) tolerate each other. The shrieks of pain and frustration were obviously that of 2 or 3 females feuding over something and each sounded familiar. I could make out a familiar voice. It continued to erupt until a final shriek and loud running footsteps, after the incident, there was silence. I had guessed the threat had passed. Brushing back the extremely tall grass that hid the entrance and I peered out, to my alarm, there was Mother lying injured and unconscious. She had put up a fight. I was in tears. It was my all-entire fault. If I had never ran away, this wouldn't've happened. I dragged her into the entrance of the burrow. I erased our scents. I sat with an empty stomach until she started to come to her senses. She sat up. "Where have you been? I searched all over for you! Oh Naruto, how could you have left us? We worried of where you might've been and what your fate was, how much we've worried, oh how much your poor mama has wor-…I'm just glad you're alright." She sighed. I heard relief in her voice. She seemed tired. "Why did you leave us?" She asked. "I had no other choice, since Dad said Tokuijin's necklace was cursed." I answered her.

"You could've told Sai goodbye. He was really disappointed."

"I'm sorry, I hadn't said goodbye but I'll make it up to you."

"What do you mean your father said Tokui-san's necklace was 'cursed'?"

"A fire suddenly started and there was nothing else that started it but I think there was something else that started it."

"Tokui-san told me about her necklace and why she was glad she lost it. She told me that whoever possesses and wears it are cursed as your father was right, it is cursed. Tokui-san told me herself that it was cursed and she hoped it'd stayed lost and never be found."

"…."

"Don't give me the 'silent treatment'."

"What happened to you?"

"It's best that we don't talk about it."

"I see."

"How is Tokui-san's 'partially' remaining here?"

"She has two souls. One descended into the afterlife and one is trapped in the Hellish abyss."

"That's very strange."

"She explained it to me before she….."

"Please don't cry, it's okay to be sad but we'll be found by an enemy if you continue weep. At least try to whimper softly."

"…"

"That's better. At least we won't be found."

I sat whimpering softly. I didn't take tragedies very well as some but this was too much. It was depressing enough and my whimpering lasted 30 minutes. "I'm hungry and I hadn't eaten since this morning, have you brought anything with you to eat?" I asked.

"I brought something but it's not much to eat. I see that you haven't changed your clothes since you left us in the last 48 ½ hours. It's not like you to leave us without saying goodbye. Why ever did you think of this?"

"I had no choice and if I stay with you, I'll only make you suffer. I've been a burden ever since I got stuck with a limp, due to a surgery that was meant to repair my messed up leg after a horrible tree fall (I fell from a tree, about 3 branches high and tore a few ligaments and shattered the joint and bone, my leg healed together but it's permanently bent and I can't flex it). I caused enough trouble by staying with you and now I must be on my own. By the way I still want whatever you have to eat."

Without question, she gave me something to eat. It wasn't much but it was good. We sat for a while, she said nothing. We sat in uttermost silence and the only sounds we heard, were the sounds of the forest and not our voices. She drifted off into a sleep, as she was very tired. I looked outside, I watched butterflies fly into the sky. I smelled another familiar scent, Miyu's scent was lingering. I saw her, she hadn't looked pleased. She asked to see Mother. I watched her fade away into the form of a butterfly. "Please stay, Miyu." I whispered. No answer. I watched her fly off but she left something behind. I picked up as it was lying beside Mother. I had to wait for her to shift movement, as she had unknowingly rolled over my hand. I started to wiggle it, she moved. To my surprise, it was a photograph. I tried to slip out but Mother caught me. "My instincts told you'd try to leave, you can't escape your mother's clutches, no one can." said Mother

"What do mean?"

"You can't escape my instincts."

"Oh? I can't, can't I?"

"No."

"Why can't I?"

"I want you to stay with me, as my purpose as a mother is to protect and care for my children and that means you. My instincts told me I'd find you somewhere in the woods. I ran into your aunts and that's when the dispute began. I still want you to stay."

"Very well, have it your way."

"Good."

I'm not sure if something went on Mother's past but I do know our family feud could've costed her life and/or mine. I don't how we are to fare on this journey but fate will have to decide. Shall we live or shall we die. Fate can only decide. If we die, Mother and I will die together and we'll never die alone without each other.

To be continued….

**Die another day... **


	3. Promise

Naruto's fatal frame XIII: Promise and to never forget

I swore to Tokui-san I'd keep our promise about the lunar flowers. I promised to never forget and abandon Miyu. I promised to never give up. I promise to return home after this journey is completed. Night fell. I saw it was dark. I decide to peer out and see what was going on. I was amazed to see moonbeam butterflies, they too, brought back tears as they had reminded me of our promise. I remember one promise I couldn't keep and that too, brought back memories. The promise I couldn't keep was 'together always'. Miyu and I made this promise after she got her scar. I couldn't keep this promise because we lived and she died separately. We knew it was a promise, as brother and sister, we couldn't keep. I know you shouldn't make a promise you can't keep but this was to hold our bond as siblings together. My memories always brought back tears. "I want to back….." I said. "Go back to where?" asked Mother.

"The lunar field and the Hellish abyss."

"I see but why ever for?"

"I need to say 'goodbye'."

"To who?"

"Tokui-san. Her end was so brief that I never got a chance to say goodbye and thank her before she died and see the lunarian flowers again before this journey ends."

We head off towards the Hellish abyss. I carried a fox lily with me. We knew the warning not to look into the Hellish abyss. We arrived a little later. "Tokui-san, I know I've never had a chance to say goodbye before you died. I don't know much about you but you've been my friend and that and yourself has been a trifle, for you." I said. I tossed the lily into the abyss as tribute and offering to my unlikely pal. She'll never come back nothing can bring her back. We walked for sometime until we reached the flowers of night. I stood in the center of the field. I remembered our promise and the promise I couldn't keep. We lived together but she died separately. 'Together always' was one promise I couldn't keep and it hurt badly to remember it. She's in a better place, as she couldn't leave the lost parts alive but could only leave in death. Death is a sad fate. It's dirty trick but it's true. I watch the lunarian flowers reproduce. I've kept my promise. Tokui-san may never get to see it but she will never be forgotten. Her necklace is all I have left off her. I see her soul gatherer swirling around a piece of her clothing. It soon disappeared.

To be continued…..

**All that's left…..**


	4. Hope

Naruto's fatal frame XIV: Hope

We returned back to back to the burrow. I felt something new and it was lot different than what I had felt before. I felt hope. I felt this at the beginning but I lost this feeling a little after Tokui-san's abrupt and unfortunate end. I felt something else new, my left leg started to bend forward and back after 4 ½ months and it didn't hurt to bend it anymore. I couldn't bend it after a surgery gone wrong in repairing it. It seemed like a miracle. I stood up and I stood straight and not the way you would be standing with a limp. I started to smile. I hadn't smiled in awhile. I didn't feel depressed any longer. The curse's effects were thinning. I felt free. Free, I had forgotten the meaning for the word but it came back. Mother awoke to see my smile in the moonlight. "Why are you smiling, my dear." asked Mother.

"Hope."

"Hope? What exactly do you mean?"

"I feel hopeful that this journey will end in happiness and the curse shall break, very soon."

"I see."

"I don't have that limp anymore."

"You don't? Let me see."

I showed her my leg and she cried with joy. I knew that this journey will end soon and it'll be all over. The next morning, we arose at dawn. We continued deeper into the woods, gathering food. We were starving. I walked better than I had before. We found food, as we were famished. We returned but a disturbing scent that appeared to be fresh sent us running for a new burrow. It was the scent of a bear and it appeared to've been searching for supper (or breakfast as it was morning). We found another burrow to nest. We had eaten and dusk came to end the day. Sleep came next then dreams came. I hadn't had any nightmares as I had been having before but this dream was a pleasant one. Day came, we ventured onward, feeling confident. Hope shall come.

To be continued….

**Hope... **


	5. Triumph!

Naruto's fatal frame XV: Triumph

The curse's effects seem to be weakening, bit-by-bit. We continued on. The curse was slowly fading. We continued with no battle to fight. It was my only will to reverse this curse and eventually come home. I know Tokui-san won't be coming home with us. I was glad that the curse was going to be gone soon. We continue, I was still wearing Tokui-san's necklace. The mark of a butterfly was still seen on my neck where it still remains from the day before Miyu's late funeral. We left our burrow in search of Kitsune shrine. Kitsune shrine was no farther than it was from our old burrow than our new one. My memories were still there. This was a new day. The curse shall break. The mist of sadness fades away. Tears have fell. I knew I would not see Miyu and/or Tokui-san again but they're in a better place. We set foot in Kitsune shrine (which is inhabited by sacred foxes). We went to the altar and an inscripted message that read:

'_Wish thy might, wish thy may, fate shall say what begins this day. Something good, wish thy may, wish thy might, something of good fortune begins this day.' _

It means something of good fortune shall begin on this very day. It seemed as though the curse has broken and I'm freed. It fades. We moved on. Fate tells me that I have to pick a 'blood flower'. A blood flower is much different than a lunarian flower. Blood flowers are the blood red versions of lunarian flowers as legend has it, someone's blood splattered on these flowers and they stayed this color forever more. Fate tells that I am to take it along with the last of Tokui-san's remains and offer it as tribute at the altar at Kitsune shrine. I knew where to find these blood flowers and that was the forest of no return. We got the urn with Tokui-san's remains and then a bouquet of blood flowers and offered them at Kitsune shrine. The wind blew stronger and stronger, the sound of bells, whispers, and banging staffs rang out and both had continued for over an hour. I hung tight onto Mother's shirt as she was shielding me from any blowing object as it may hit us. It was all over. The spell had broken. I removed Tokui-san's pendant from my neck and left it behind at the shrine. We returned home and was greeted by our family and the rest of the village. The journey was over. The curse had broken.

**Epilogue**: In Two month's time, I'm still telling this story of my great story, as I told it to you, from a horrifying beginning to a happy end. Before I got to say goodbye to my unlikely pal, I saw her again in her other spirit form. She looked different than before. She was actually smiling and no longer had her scars. She had never smiled before but she smiled now. She dispersed into transparently white butterflies and flew into the bright blue sky and disappeared altogether, as the sound of the Biwa she once played echoed freely in the wind, I'll never see her or Miyu again. We are free. I'm free. The dying lunar flower sheds its final petal. Goodbye. Time shall tell if we meet again for a second time, my friend.

**Suffer no more. **


End file.
